This comes after the loss of millions of shillings at the Education ministry, and although the British move comes a tad late, it is better than nothing.
Kenya’s former colonial master, and the country’s most important single bilateral donor since 1963, now appears alive to the fact that billions of shillings in donor funds may have been lost in similar circumstances through the decades.
Bearing this in mind, its new funding policy should be designed to encompass all British grants, donations, aid and gifts not only to Kenya but to all developing nations.
What happened at the Education ministry was a pointer to what transpires in other ministries. So, it would be foolhardy for the British Government to wait for another scandal to erupt in order to graft another new funding policy.
In the 1990s, I was privileged to attend a ceremony in Kilifi where the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) was handing over the completed Mombasa-Kilifi bridge to President Moi.
The bridge was not only completed several months ahead of schedule, but a substantial sum of money was also saved.
Had this multi-million shilling contract been awarded to a local firm, it would not only have taken more years to complete, but would have cost probably up to ten times more.
Completed projects
If I’m not wrong, the Japanese and Chinese rarely offer bilateral help in cash or monetary form. Instead, they prefer to do so in terms of costed, completed projects like bridges, institutions, scholarships, vehicles and even fertiliser.
Other countries have learnt from these Eastern practices and as a result, there is minimal theft of funds from organisations such as USAid, Danida, Norad, Plan, Care, Action Aid and GTZ, among others.
The UK’s Department for International Development should overhaul its funding policies in Kenya and other graft-prone countries. Instead of cold, hard cash, give these greedy nations books, rulers, vehicles, drugs, mosquito nets, school equipment and military hardware, among others. Let them sell those if they wish.
This is the only way the British Government will ensure its taxpayers’ hard-earned cash is put to proper use.
{Shem Onyuro, Kisumu}
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